Saturday, November 16
Hamilton, N.Y.
1:00 PM
Lehigh University
8-2 , 3-1
31
at
14
Colgate
4-7 , 3-2
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Lehigh
7
10
7
7
31
Colgate
7
0
7
0
14
Photo by: Bob Cornell
No. 17/20 Lehigh downs Colgate 31-14 to set up rivalry championship showdown
11/16/2013 4:45:00 PM | Football
HAMILTON, N.Y. – For the second straight week senior running back Keith Sherman established career highs in rushes and rushing yards as he went off for 184 on 27 carries to lead No. 17/20 Lehigh to a 31-14 win over Colgate Saturday at Andy Kerr Stadium. The Mountain Hawks eclipsed the 200 yard rushing mark as a team for the second straight week and forced three turnovers as Lehigh improves to 8-2 overall and 3-1 in the Patriot League.
Lehigh will now host rival Lafayette next Saturday at Goodman Stadium with the outright Patriot League championship and the league's automatic berth in the NCAA FCS Playoffs on the line.
Sherman rushed for a touchdown and added two receptions for 40 yards as Lehigh gained 399 yards of total offense including 237 on the ground.
"He's getting better and better," said Lehigh head coach Andy Coen of Sherman's performance. "He probably took the Bucknell loss harder than anyone on our team. He has always been a good leader for us and a good player but he's been a different guy the last couple of weeks. We rode him hard last week and he did a great job and even more so today. He was going to will this team to great things today and he was able to do that."
Freshman Nick Shafnisky made his first career start for the Mountain Hawks, going 11-for-21 for 134 yards. He threw two touchdowns and an interception and also rushed nine times for 26 yards. Both of Shafnisky's touchdown passes went to Lee Kurfis, who finished with eight grabs for 103 yards, his seventh 100-plus yard receiving game this season.
"This team needed very little motivation from the coaches," said Lehigh head coach Andy Coen. "They deserved to win, but nobody was going to hand it to them. They've been through a lot this year and they've handled things very well on and off the field. Now we're playing at a level that's been consistent over the last couple of games."
Lehigh took the opening kickoff and picked up one first down before three incompletions forced a punt. Colgate started at its 18 and moved 82 yards in ten plays, capped by a two yard run by Demetrius Russell, which gave the Raiders a 7-0 lead six minutes in.
On its second drive, Sherman picked up a pair of first downs on the ground but the drive ended with a punt as senior Tim Divers pinned the Raiders at their two. Colgate picked up a first down on a McCarney scramble but on third down he was hit by sophomores Noah Robb and Matt Laub and fumbled into the arms of junior Tim Newton, who returned the ball two yards for a touchdown. Ryan Pandy's extra point tied the game at 7-7.
The Mountain Hawks took the lead for the first time with a 12-play, 80-yard drive. Sherman picked up two first downs, and then a 38 yard option pass from junior wide receiver Josh Parris to Kurfis set Lehigh up at the Colgate five. Three plays later Shafnisky found Kurfis, who made a diving grab in the corner of the end zone for a six yard score as Lehigh took a 14-7 lead after the extra point.
Lehigh's defense stopped Colgate once more and then the teams traded turnovers, with Cameron Buttermore picking off Shafnisky and then Damien Brown tracking down a deep McCarney pass in the end zone.
Late in the half, Lehigh put together an eight play, 72-yard drive. Pandy connected on a 36 yard field goal to give Lehigh a 17-7 lead. After a kickoff out of bounds, Colgate started at its 35 but the Mountain Hawks created their third turnover of the half as Rickie Hill picked McCarney off on a deep ball over the middle. Lehigh took a knee and a ten point lead into the locker room.
Lehigh out-gained Colgate 182-117 through the first 30 minutes. Sherman led the Mountain Hawks with 114 yards on 14 carries. Shafnisky was 6-for-14 for 29 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Kurfis was the top receiver with six catches for 63 yards.
Junior Arturo Gyles led the defensive effort with five first-half tackles. The Mountain Hawks kept McCarney to 0-for-7 passing in the first half after he was 6-for-6 in the first quarter.
Colgate opened the second half with three first downs before Lehigh's defense stiffened. Sophomore Olivier Rigaud got a finger on Colgate's punt giving the Mountain Hawks the ball at their own 49 yard line. After two long Sherman runs, Shafnisky hit Kurfis for a nine yard touchdown to extend Lehigh's lead to 24-7 just over five minutes into the second half.
The Raiders answered back with a 12 play, 72-yard drive. A Lehigh personal foul on third down gave Colgate a second chance and the Raiders later converted a 4th-and-9 to preserve the drive. A Jimmy DeCicco 24-yard run cut Lehigh's lead to 24-14.
After forcing a Lehigh punt Colgate appeared to seize the momentum with a 14 play drive into Mountain Hawk territory. On fourth down from the Lehigh 24, McCarney overshot tight end John Quazza in the end zone to give the Mountain Hawks possession.
Lehigh answered with a seven play, 76-yard drive. The Mountain Hawks gained 31 yards on third and short on a screen pass to Kurfis. Shafnisky then hit Sherman for 23 yards on a screen pass before Sherman ran it in from two yards out to put the Mountain Hawks up by 17 with 8:19 to play.
After forcing a Colgate punt, Sherman and senior Sean Farrell helped the Mountain Hawks kill most of the remaining seven minutes on the clock.
"Timmy's touchdown was the spark that got things going," Coen said. "We're playing together again now. The defense has been really consistent the last couple of weeks. We gave up some third and longs but kept lining up and going after it and got the stop we needed and the offense took it from there."
McCarney finished 13-for-28 for 132 yards and a pair of interceptions for Colgate. He also rushed seven times for 13 yards. DeCicco and Russell combined to rush for 126 yards and the two Raider touchdowns.
Defensively, senior Tyler Ward led the Mountain Hawks with nine tackles, including 1.5 for loss. Gyles, Robb and Newton each added seven tackles, with Newton also registering 1.5 for loss.
The Mountain Hawks will host rival Lafayette next Saturday with the Patriot League championship on the line in the 149th meeting of college football's most-played rivalry. Kickoff is set for just after 12:30 from Goodman Stadium.
EXTRA POINTS… Lehigh won its second straight game over the Raiders in Hamilton and defeated Colgate for the third time in four seasons… The Mountain Hawks won the game prior to the Lafayette game for the 14th time in 15 seasons… Lehigh and Lafayette will meet for the Patriot League's automatic playoff bid for the first time since 2006… Sherman now has four career 100 yard rushing games, all four of which have come in 2013… Kurfis posted his first 100 yard receiving game since the Columbia game after gaining 100 yards in six straight to open the season… Kurfis' 92 receptions are four behind the Lehigh single-season record of 96 set by Ryan Spadola in 2011… the Patriot League record is 101 set by Javarus Dudley of Fordham in 2003…Kurfis now has eight receiving touchdowns this season, with two in each of four games (CCSU, Monmouth, Columbia, Colgate)… Newton's defensive touchdown was the first for Lehigh since Billy Boyko's 39 yard interception return at Liberty in September 2012.
Team Stats
LEHIGH
COLGATE
Total Yards
399
275
Pass Yards
172
132
Rushing Yards
227
143
Penalty Yards
41
34
1st Downs
19
15
3rd Downs
6
5
4th Downs
0
2
TOP
29:59
30:01
1st Quarter
LEHIGH 0, COLGATE 7
COLGATE - Russell, D. 2 yd run (Bowman, Jonah kick), 10 plays, 82 yards, TOP 4:48
LEHIGH 7, COLGATE 7
LEHIGH - Newton, Tim 2 yd fumble recovery (Pandy, Ryan kick)
2nd Quarter
LEHIGH 14, COLGATE 7
LEHIGH - Kurfis, Lee 6 yd pass from Shafnisky, Nick (Pandy, Ryan kick) 12 plays, 80 yards, TOP 5:30
LEHIGH 17, COLGATE 7
LEHIGH - Pandy, Ryan 36 yd field goal 8 plays, 72 yards, TOP 3:03
3rd Quarter
LEHIGH 24, COLGATE 7
LEHIGH - Kurfis, Lee 9 yd pass from Shafnisky, Nick (Pandy, Ryan kick) 5 plays, 51 yards, TOP 2:20
LEHIGH 24, COLGATE 14
COLGATE - DeCicco, Jimmy 24 yd run (Bowman, Jonah kick), 12 plays, 72 yards, TOP 5:02
4th Quarter
LEHIGH 31, COLGATE 14
LEHIGH - Sherman, Keith 2 yd run (Pandy, Ryan kick), 7 plays, 76 yards, TOP 2:59
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
11
TD
2
YDS
134
INT
1
CMP
1
TD
0
YDS
38
INT
0
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